Hold Your Applause
by digby
The last thing I want to do is rain on anyone's parade, but I think it's worth remembering that this still has to go through reconciliation in the Senate. I would hope they learned their lesson after the last "Mission Accomplished" moment in December when everyone cheered each other like it was VJ day only to have Scott Brown knock them back. From what I'm hearing they haven't learned a thing. There's much crying and rending of garments over "history being made" among the liberal Villagers already and the votes haven't even been cast.
It isn't over folks. The Senate is a strange creature and until this thing is on the president's desk, anything can happen. Once he signs it, everybody gets to take their victory lap and congratulate themselves for being so darned awesome. Until then, they should try to keep their encomiums under wraps. It only makes them look stupid when everything falls apart.
Just saying. Everybody should keep their pants on. (Good advice in most situations.)
Update: I'm wrong about this. If the house passes the bill, it will become the law of the land (unless the president vetoed it, which won't happen.) If reconciliation fails, as remains possible, then the House will just have been screwed and all the careful negotiations of the past few days will have been for naught. Nobody cares about that. (And truthfully, what's the House going to do about it? Secede?)
So if the bill passes tonight it seems everyone can safely commence the celebrations.
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